Archive for the ‘Sports’ Category

The Rose Bowl kicks off tomorrow at 2pm PST and I’ll be watching it all the way from Hawaii. I’ve got chips and dip ready and I’ve convinced Stanford and non-Stanford friends to come join me in my living room. My friend and her family plan to bring their TV out to their garage to watch. They’ve already warned their neighbors. I hope the rest of you are just as excited as we are! Here’s another infographic to help you prepare for tomorrow’s game:

d.newsframe is currently recruiting graphic artists and visual designers so if you’re interested, send an email to lindsey@dnewsframe.com.

Think you’re the Cardinal’s biggest, craziest, most devoted fan? Then bring your camera to the Rose Bowl this Tuesday and take a photo to prove it! Send your best shot to stanfordblogging@gmail.com by January 11 for a chance to win a $25 Ike’s gift card and have your photo posted on the Blog. Consider it TUSB’s Fan of the Game competition. Runners up will receive $10 dollar gift cards to Coupa Cafe. This contest is open to current Stanford students. We’re looking for crazy, so (short of harming yourself or others) go as nuts as you possibly can. Go Card!

As we get ready for today’s epic game against UCLA, I’m going to take a minute and time-warp a couple of weeks back to the epic game against the University of Oregon. Kevin Hogan played one of the best games of his life and Stepfan Taylor steamrolled through defender after defender. Our defense racked up sac after sac… but Oregon was damn good this year (as they were last year– remember the humiliation after waking up at 5:30am for College GameDay?!) and they gave us a run for our money. All our best efforts ended up with us going into a nail biting overtime, but thankfully we won the coin toss and chose 2nd possession. Basically this means that Oregon goes first, starts on our the 25 yard line, and has to score in one drive.

They get close and it’s 4th down. They send in their kicker. Solid snap and he kicks….. It hits the post and bounces off. No good.

Now’s our chance to make it happen. Surely between Talor and Hogan we can get this done.

4th down comes and we’re still 37 yards away. This can only one play left and everyone knows what’s going to happen. Shaw sends in Jordan Williamson.

Oh no…

Mind you, I’ve never met Jordan before and I’m confident that he’s been a solid kicker since his first day at Stanford, but this guy has gotten massively shafted during his time here. I won’t go into details on his Stanford playing career, but needless to say when he took the field on Saturday night to attempt to seal the deal for us, the sports-bar I was at in NYC (full of newly minted Stanford alumni) came to absolute silence. Jordan lined up, the snap was made, his kick connected and…

This post is in response to a Daily Californian blog, which can be read here. The opinions expressed in this article are not the opinions expressed by The Unofficial Stanford Blog, The Stanford Daily, or its writers. Oh man, have I always wanted to write that. Buckle up.

Dear Daily Californian,

Recently, you published a blog article (blarticle) entitled “No competition” which, in my humble opinion, went too far. The Stanford Daily has already issued a response, which can be read here, but I thought I would take advantage of this blog’s Unofficial-ness to say some words that the good people at the Daily are too nice to say.

Originally, my article just had the words “get over it” and a detailed sketch of the Tree mooning a bear, but my editor said the text had to at least fill a whole line.

So I wrote more words:

While I’m as pleased as anyone that you’ve learned to proofread, and have access to a platform to show other people this new skill, this is the saddest and most asinine drivel that’s ever been mistaken for a blog. And that’s after I learned “Birds with Arms” exists.

I realize that this post was written in good fun, something with which to placate the ire of students and alumni after Stanford’s beatdown of Cal, but I implore you to keep it classy, or at least relevant. When you fault a young woman for what might have been a keystroke error (Although a score of 10-1, while unlikely, is certainly possible), or insult the readers of the Daily (which include professors, Nobel Laureates, and freshmen in Stern Dining) in one sweeping generalization, you are sucking on the dregs of the stupidest Stanford-Cal rivalry there is, or ever will be: proofreading.

If you haven’t seen this already, or even if you have, take four minutes to celebrate today’s 21-3 triumph over the Golden Bears with some inspiring dance moves by a GSB flash mob of “Gangnam Style.” How they found a rainy day to tape this video is beyond me, but the content and choreography are worthy of the Cardinal brand.

Daniel Kozlowski is Vice Chairman of the Stanford Axe Committee, the student group responsible for the protection of Stanford’s most prized possession “The Stanford Axe.”

Welcome, freshmen. I hope you have enjoyed your first three weeks here at Stanford. I remember this being an exciting time for me two years ago. I was in a new, interesting, exciting, and fun place with some of the most articulate, intelligent, and friendly 18-22 year olds in the world (pat on back). I had just turned in my first PSET and finally had a vague understanding of where my classes were. It was also around this time that Stanford Stadium hosted its first football home game when school was in session. It was a big game…not THE BIG GAME (that came later in the year, in which we clobbered that other school across the Bay 48-14 and got back the Axe).

Our beloved Cardinal were playing the University of Spoiled Children Southern California Trojans. Stanford hadn’t beaten the Trojans in Stanford Stadium since 2000, a full decade prior; needless to say, the excitement was palpable. A back-and-forth game between the two teams featured some heavy hitting (by a quarterback-turned-linebacker) and its fair share of drama. The game came down to Stanford kicker Nate Whitaker, who earlier in the game had missed a PAT that stood as the lone difference in a 35-34 game. Turning from goat to hero, Whitaker split the uprights and gave Stanford the win it had been waiting ten years for. Fans, many of them students, came rushing onto the field as the Cardinal celebrated its victory.

Side Note: Since then, we have extended our win streak against USC to four (the longest ever) and won eleven regular-season games in back-to-back years (before 2010, we had never won more than nine games in a season), leading to two BCS Bowl appearances (2011 Orange Bowl, 2012 Fiesta Bowl). Stanford has become a football powerhouse.

That game was Stanford’s closest (and most exciting) of the 2010 season, made all the more special because of the support of the RED ZONE (the student section), which can actually affect the outcome of games: loud crowds cause opponents to incur False Start and Delay of Game penalties; they also throw off the opponent’s rhythm and give the defense a tactical advantage. Our alumni, awesome as they are, are not the best at being loud; sometimes, they need a push. The RED ZONE gives them that push. Here are some DOs and DON’Ts for the student section that will help our team win on Saturdays:

DO

Come to all the home games and the Big Game (which is at Cal’s newly-renovated-but-still-crappy Memorial Stadium this year). This week we have a home game against Arizona (Kickoff at 12PM on Saturday).

Attend the viewing parties on the Row and show that we support our team even when they aren’t playing at home.

The dynamic duo ushered in a new era of Stanford Football. (Source: Getty Images.)

How quick is Stanford to forget its heroes? Well, if football signs and Facebook victory statuses are any indication, about 9 months. That’s how long it’s been since the last time Andrew Luck took the field for the Cardinal at the 2012 Fiesta Bowl, straight off of his second straight selection as runner-up for the Heisman Trophy.

What am I talking about? In case you didn’t watch last night’s Stanford Football upset over USC on TV (dude, you missed out) or aren’t quite so Facebookily active as I, I’m referencing the signs, statuses, and news articles claiming that “Luck had nothing to do with it.”

Nope, luck – in the sense of good fortune – had nothing to do with it. Stanford Football has got what it takes to remain in the top ten, even after the honeymoon of our transformation from a ho-hum team in 2006 to a stellar one last year with the NFL #1 draft pick. But to say that Andrew Luck had nothing to do with Stanford’s current status as a football powerhouse does a disservice to his devotion to the Cardinal and is just plain inaccurate.

Luck and Sherman celebrate a resounding victory over Wake Forest in 2010.

Stanford Football stands upon the shoulders of giants. Jim Harbaugh ushered in a new era of Stanford football success, bringing pride, organization, and sweet black jerseys to the little Farm that could. GoStanford.com puts it best: “the Stanford football program hardly resembles the one Harbaugh inherited following a 1-11 season [in 2006].” Harbaugh’s coaching style was complimented by the ascendance of the young Andrew Luck, who “emerged as one of the best young signal callers in the nation… under Harbaugh’s tutelage.”

Add to that the tank-like plowing power of running back Toby Gerhart (’10). Add a hearty dollop of pure Cardinal pride (“whooooooose house??”) from now Seattle Seahawks starting cornerback Richard Sherman (’10). Mix in the double threat (and luscious locks) of FB/LB Owen Marecic (’11). Season that with the sweat, blood and tears of hundreds of other Stanford players, and now you’ve got yourself a program.

What I’m getting at is this: fantastic recruiting classes like ours don’t go to historically mediocre schools: they go to schools with an established, well-oiled program. Stanford’s football dynasty has been carefully cultivated since 2006 by the likes of Harbaugh, Luck, and Gerhart, and it’s thanks to the heroes of yesterday that we’re reveling in the victories of today. I’m proud and a half of Josh Nunes and the rest of the 2012 team for their upset over USC last night, and I don’t mean to steal any of their thunder. But there’s enough glory to go around.

Ah, summer. One minute you’re shotgunning a beer celebrating with friends after your last final, the next, you’re waking up and rolling over to find that two months of beaching, traveling, summer-schooling, tanning, grilling, working, and/or your resume-building b****work meaningful internship experience have flown by and it’s already August. Which means it’s time to maybe, possibly, conceivably consider what you’ll be studying in the fall. Even at Stanford, summer doesn’t last forever, and eventually we’ve got to come to grips with all of our first-world problems – namely, enrolling in classes at the happiest place university on earth. But, fear not – I have spent the last fortnight scouring every course in every department this school has to offer (upon reading this line, my proofreader claims that I “need to get laid a life”), with the hope of delivering the BEST list of classes to get you STOKED to come back to campus. It combines all the things I love most in life: cool classes that don’t physically drive me to tears (yes, I’m talking to YOU, “Inventing Classics“), excessive linkage, personality stereotypes, semi-snarky commentary, giant over-generalizations and massive assumptions, and most importantly: THE MUPPETS. In any case, I hope the article piques your interest in something you might have otherwise overlooked, missed, or been to lazy to go look up. And if not, all I can say is that I hope it makes you laugh (if only in pity). Other than that, here’s to the remaining MONTH of summer (suck it, Cal) and the boredom and restlessness that will inevitably accompany it. Cheers.

I took this class last fall. Actual (read: more or less deeply paraphrased) quote from the prof: “Hey, Hennessey – I’ve got an idea for a class. It will involve abundant sexism, racism, elitism, lewd and scatalogical references, innappropriate behvaior, excessive profanity, and – above all – some of the most brilliant and observative writers, performers, and anthropologists of our time. What’s this class called, you ask? Well, it’s Stand Up Comedy and the Great American Joke”. Take this class. It’s awesome.

ENGLISH 154: Mapping the Romantic Imagination
The map of MY romantic imagination involves horseback trips through the Florin countryside with Wesley, a sunset on the bow of the (intact) Titanic with Jack, the California coastline in Benjamin Bradford’s convertible, getting stuck on an island in the Caribbean with Cap’n Jack Sparrow, Patrick Verona’s paintball park, and wherever Ryan Gosling is currently located (though, preferably here). To my great disappointment, however, I believe this class refers a bit more to the English romantic poets and novelists and the sublime countrysides they envisioned. Then again, is anything quite as lovely and romanticized as curling up with a little Keats and Byron?

the hipster

This muppet is actually called Harry the Hipster. You've probably never heard of him.

I feel bad for the poor sucker of a TA who has to read 60+ papers on “Why the dolphin/butterfly/Chinese symbol for “peace”/shooting star/infinity sign/angel wings/song lyrics/Bible verse on my ankle/lower back/shoulder blade/neck/wrist/sideboob/part of my hip that totally gets gets covered by a bikini is a unique artistic expression of my inner self”.

FILMSTUD 301: Fundamentals of Cinematic Analysis
Take this class so that the next time you’re giving your pretentious opinion about the latest film showing at INSERT NAME OF UNKNOWN THEATER HERE, you’ll be able to reference a little-known technique/genre/style/paradigm/buzzword that your professor mentioned once in class.

COMM 125: Perspectives on American Journalism
I don’t know enough about journalism or, frankly, television to confidently explain why “The Newsroom” sucks and “The Wire” is the bestest thing ever since Ike’s Menais a Trois. Admittedly, I should probably take this class and many others on this list. In any case, if you believe the slow death of the newspaper is a genuine travesty or that Cronkite and Murrow could give Colbert and Stewart a run for their money, then this might be the class for you.

HISTORY 308D: Pre-Modern Warfare
I’m not exactly sure at what point/what contraptions fall under the heading of “Modern Warfare”, but if you’re telling me that I get to take a class on how to use the history of ninja stars, crossbows, catapults, and broadswords, then SIGN. ME. UP.

It is my first real week of summer. And yes, I am already bored. My general routine for curing boredom involves 1) indulging in crappy TV 2) attempting to repair my sleep debt (impossible) and 3) keeping up with my sports teams like no one’s business. Being that I’m not emotionally invested in basketball (read: I’ll-watch-it-but-eh), that leaves me Giant’s baseball and my football teams, the Niners and of course our Stanford football team.

Amidst my avid googling, I came across this SF Chronicle article. It notes that our first football game of the season (at home v. San Jose State) has been moved from Saturday, Sept. 1st to the night before at 7pm. That is right, ladies and gents, we will have a Friday season opener. While this may not be that significant in and of itself, I think it gives us Stanford fans something to think about.

While Friday home opener is a little disappointing, the change itself is not the most significant part of the story, especially since not many students will be able to attend anyway (you can count me there). It leaves me to question, how many more times/dates will be switched on us to satisfy the PAC-12 Network? Looking at other team’s schedules, we aren’t the only ones to have Friday night games (which I’m not that opposed to. High school anyone?), but some teams even have Thursday games scheduled.

With late Thursday classes and sections, I wonder, if we do have a home game yanked to a Thursday, how many people will we lose? How many season ticket holders won’t go because of work early the next morning? How many students will have a mandatory attendance section?

Our home game schedule already sucks, as noted by Kabir earlier this year (article here). We have only three home games while school is in session. USC happens before school starts. Big Game was moved to… OCTOBER. While I may be a tad (okay, REALLY) emotional about this since it will be my last football season as an undergrad, I still feel like any Stanford undergrad who attends home games probably feels like they got cheated…just a little bit.

The upswing to all of this, of course, is that every PAC-12 football game will be televised nation-wide, which is great for revenues and visibility and especially great for Stanford alums that live out of area. This is an amazing perk and will be great for the conference and for our school. I am personally hoping for a full season of hard-hitting football in which last year’s middling PAC-12 contenders really step up, and we give SEC fans something to think about.

Still is the weird schedule worth the perks? I, for one, am on the fence. Let me know what y’all think!

Do you think the PAC-12 Network brings more good than bad?

Yes! I am a fan

Yeah, but I still think we should have fought for a better schedule

It doesn't matter. It was a necessary evil as a network is inevitably part of the new super-conference deal.

Part one of a series detailing Stanford students and the awesome things we do outside of class

7:15AM on Sunday morning and my alarm sounds, piercing my post-Saturday night partying foggy consciousness. Detesting the idea of waking up at this godforsaken hour, I hit that glorious invention the snooze button and roll back into blissful nothingness. 5 minutes later my phone screams at me again, and an image flashes through my mind: I’m floating atop the water, the sun warming my face and the wind whipping through my hair. I’m drinking beer and laughing with friends. From the depths of my slumber, a slightly accented voice booms at me “Pull in the jib sheet Jesse, we’re tacking!” In a rush of excitement, I fly out of bed and begin searching for warm clothes, finally remembering why I got up this early on the day most college students never see the a.m. hours: it’s sailing time!

Stanford Senor & Skipper Dominik Pasalic

If you think I’m nuts for giving up my one guaranteed morning of sloth to schlep all the way to Santa Cruz to battle the wind or lack there of, wait until you meet Stanford senior Dominik Pasalic, Croatian born and raised, and an ocean lover since day one. Despite his passion for the sea and fascination with all things maritime, it wasn’t until his mid teens that Dom took his first one week sailing class in his home country. “Learn how to sail an old Croatian sailboat,” he tells us, “and you’ll be able to sail any boat in the world!” he emphasizes as he points to the electronic controls on the modern 46 ft Beneteau sailboat that we’ve chartered (sail speak for rented) for the day from Pacific Yachting in Santa Cruz. (more…)

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, chances are that you’ve heard of NBA player Jeremy Lin and his meteoric rise to stardom. Failing to acquire athletic scholarships, Lin attended Harvard on the basis of academic merit. Looked over in the 2010 draft, Lin has ultimately become the “the first NBA player to score at least 20 points and have seven assists in each of his first five starts.”

While his tale is certainly one of dedication and personal triumph, I think the reason that Lin’s success has so resonated with the Stanford crowd is that his story is a victory for nerds everywhere. Reflecting on Stanford’s current dose of Linsanity, I quickly realized that Jeremy Lin isn’t the only “nerd” taking the sports world by storm – Stanford athletes throughout professional and Olympic sports demonstrate the true importance of smarts and dedication.

Join me as I trace the stories of a few of our favorite Stanford nerdthletes.

He and fellow former Stanford teammate Doug Baldwin have been working hard to overcome these prejudices ever since they signed with the Seahawks. Indeed, per the Seattle Sports Hub, “they’ve done nothing since then but prove beyond any doubt that they belong in the NFL just as much as any guy drafted in the top 10 of any draft in the last decade at least.”

Sherman and his fellow Stanford athletes have embraced the “nerd” label, promoting the use of the “Revenge of the Nerds” battle cry from Twitter to the stadium. With his inspiring personal story, determination (his twitter bio reads: “I lead by example / Confidence is a Prerequisite for Success”), and undeniable star power, role model Sherman is showing the next generation of scholars and athletes that it’s possible to be both. (more…)

As you may or may not have heard, Andrew Luck, our hero and savior of the Stanford football program, is off to the NFL. While he could have stayed one more year, he’s done with his degree and I wish him the best in his future endeavors.

Andrew Luck (artist's depiction)

Besides, I don’t exactly envy the guy. Though he’s going to get drafted first overall and make gigantic piles of money, he’s headed to the Indianapolis Colts. The team recently went 2-14, fired its head coach and general manager, and has a huge dilemma at a key position (I won’t tell you who’s in the middle of it, but I’ll give you a hint: it starts with a “P” and ends in “eyton Manning”).

Luck isn’t the only important name headed to the pros. Offensive linemen Jonathan Martin and David DeCastro, two major cogs in the Cardinal’s success on offense, are both likely to be drafted in the first round. A bunch of other important contributors are gone too, like safety Delano Howell, tight end Coby Fleener and wide receiver Griff Whalen.

But never fear, dear readers! The Cardinal has a bunch of young playmakers eager to step into starting roles for next year’s (shamefully poorly scheduled) season. We caught flashes of these underclass dynamos last season, but an extended introduction will have to wait until spring practice. Head coach David Shaw and his staff is also hard at work assembling a top-25 recruiting class, quite a feat for a school with Stanford’s academic standards.

Will Stanford go 11-1 and make another BCS bowl? Probably not. Can we score a solid record, a trip to a decent non-BCS bowl, and an upset or two over some Pac-12 heavyweights? Sure, I definitely think so. The program isn’t quite at the point where it can just reload after players like Andrew Luck leave (and it probably never will be), but there’s no reason Stanford can’t return to the elite after a rebuilding year or two.

So who, you ask, are these mystery youngsters that form the next generation of Stanford football? To the breakdown! (more…)

If you’re anything like me (that is, a rabid follower of college football and our beloved Stanford Cardinal), then you’ve already gotten over our gut-wrenching, heart-stopping loss to Oklahoma State in the Fiesta Bowl and are looking eagerly forward to spring ball and the start of next season. Basketball? A silly game where unnaturally tall people run back and forth for no discernible reason. Baseball? Can’t keep me awake past the second inning. The NFL playoffs? OK, I’ll admit you got me on that one, but those only last until February.

I always knew Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott cared only about money and not at all about students, and this just confirms it. (Image courtesy of the Pac-12)

So that’s why I was appalled when I saw the full 2012 football schedule the Pac-12 Conference released earlier today. To summarize, here’s the Cardinal’s full 12-game schedule for next season:

This schedule sucks and it’s extremely unfortunate that our athletic department didn’t try for something better. Let’s start with the fact that, out of Stanford’s six home games next season, three come before the start of fall quarter: San Jose State, Duke and USC. This is hugely unfortunate for two main reasons. Obviously, the vast majority of students won’t be able to attend any of these games; since next year will be my last on the Farm, I’m especially ticked off that I’ll get to see Stanford football in person a grand total of three times in a 12-game season. Nearly as important is the fact that USC is one of those games. Whenever the Trojans come to town, it’s always the biggest home game of the regular season and a guaranteed sellout, so it’s an incredible letdown that only a few of us will get to go to that one.

This year's Stanford-USC matchup was a triple-OT thriller. Too bad we won't get to see these teams play next year.

Next, let’s take a look at the three teams we will get to see at home: Arizona, Washington State and Oregon State. These three programs were at or near the bottom of the Pac-12 in 2011, and were three of the five conference teams that failed to earn bowl eligibility. Arizona and Washington State both ended up firing their coaches, and Oregon State’s top man enters the season on the conference’s hottest seat. While we’re probably not going to steamroll these teams the way we did this season, I’m not exactly excited to see games featuring some of the Pac-12’s cellar dwellers. As an addendum to all of this, five of our last seven games are on the road, meaning it’ll be tough for us to follow the team and put more pressure on the team to win road games late in the season.

Last but certainly not least, notice how the Big Game has been inexplicably moved up to mid-October, when it has traditionally taken place in late November (usually the Saturday before Thanksgiving). Big Game, and the week leading up to it, are among the most hallowed traditions both on the Farm and across the Bay at Cal; putting the game in mid-October messes everything up and makes Big Game highly anti-climactic.

The reason for all of these shenanigans is two letters: TV. The Pac-12’s scheduling priorities are dictated entirely by the conference’s television partners. The upshot is that every Pac-12 game will be available nationwide on television, which I guess is supposed to substitute for taking away our game day experience.

Did anyone else notice the new uniforms at the Stanford vs. Notre Dame game? I couldn’t be there in person but I made sure to tune in. The first thing that struck me was the fact that these uniforms had longer sleeves. A trivial matter, until you watch the promo below explaining the entire uniform:

Apparently they build uniforms like they used to build armor – every layer and piece has a purpose. Nike went all out for the uniforms and even made an amazing commercial about it! The commercial was intense. Hopefully as intense as the Stanford fans at next year’s Bowl game! The title of this post is a question, but we are Cardinal Red. It’s our official color. I did like one line from the commercial – “Cardinal Red is a metaphor for the very pulse of life.” I don’t think that was ever the intent but it sounds awesome. For the history of this quote check out the comment below! Get inspired Stanford! The football season may be done but things aren’t over for our football team yet!

P.S. I saw the number 12 and didn’t see Andrew Luck. That part of the ad wasn’t quite as authentic as I would have liked but it’ll do.